Combined latch and check



(No Model.) 3 She'etsS heetf 1. R. WRIGHT. COMBINED LATCH AND CHECK.

No. 534,707. Patented Feb. 26. 1895.

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COMBINED LATCH AND CHECK. No. 534,707. Patented Feb. 26, 1895.

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RUFUS WVRIGHT, OF'OHIGAGO, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED LATCH AND CHECK.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 534,707, dated February26, 1 895.

Original application filed January 8, 1894, S ial N 496,099. Divided andthis application filed January 8,1894. Serial No. 496,100- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUFUS WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Gombined Latch and Check for Doors andthe Like, of which the following is a specification.

This application is filed as a division of my application, Serial No.496,099, for Letters Patent of the United States, filed of even dateherewith. My said application, Serial No. 496,099, embodies severalforms or arrangements of combined latch and check, adapted to normallyor ordinarily oppose the closing of a door with a yielding springresistance of sufticient strength to act as a check against undueslamming of the door, and also adapted to permit the catch or latch tobe relieved at will from the normal spring resistance 0p posed to itsretraction when it is forced back by the act of closing thedoor,whereby, when the door is closed and latched and it is desired tounlatch and open the same, the latch can be relieved from said normalspring resistance and hence can be manually retracted with ease. V

For the purpose of this application I have elected to specially claimherein the arrangement or construction involving a spring resistancewhich normally opposes the retraction of the latch so as to provide acheck for preventing undue slamming of a door or the like, and a movableabutment normally and temporarily interposed between the springresistance and the latch, so that while the abutment is thus interposedbetween the latch and spring resistance, the retraction of the latchwill be opposed by the latter, while on the other hand, by freeing themovable abutment from engagement with the latch, the latter will beentirely relieved from such spring resistance and hence can be manuallyretracted with great ease. To such end therefore I provide inconjunction with the latch, and a spring resistance preferablyconsisting of a yielding spring cushion, a movable abutment subject tothe spring and adapted to interlock with the latch, whereby by unlockingsaid device the latch can be retracted independently of the same.

' In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 represents a section takenlongitudinally through the casing, and illustrates in elevation, anarrangement whereby the latch can be entirely relieved from the springresistance of an elastic air-cushion. Fig. 2 is a face or plan view ofthe same with the cover or faceplate removed. Fig. 3 is a view similarto Fig. 1, showing the latch relieved from the spring resistance. Fig.4: illustrates the latch or catch removed. Fig. 5 illustrates themovable abutment which can be interposed between the latch and springresistance and normally interlocked with or placed subject to theretraction of the latch. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 respectively correspond withFigs. '1, 2, and 3, the devices being similar in principle but involvingslight changes in detail, as hereinafter explained. Fig. 9 shows theswinging latch of Figs. 6, 7 and 8. Fig. 10 represents in perspectivethe key for disengaging the movable abutment from the latch, and forretracting the latch when the movable abutment is disengaged therefrom.Fig. 11 shows in perspective the latch, the elastic air-cushion, themovable abutment, and the key, the forward end of the movable abutmentbeing raised by the key from engagement with the latch. Fig. 12 is asimilar view showing the latch partially retracted by the key.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the latch A, normallyretracts against a spring resistance or an elastic air-cushion B throughthe intervention of a movable abutment 0, arranged to normally provide arear extension for the latch. The rear end a of this movable abutmenttemporary latch extension abuts against the elastic air-cushion B, andthe latter is simply provided with a constantly open pin-hole .or minutevent b. This movable abutment C is separate from the latch, and has itsforward portion arranged within a slot at, in the latch. The slot at isformed with a shoulder a, and the movable abutment is provided with ashoulder 0' '(Figs. 4 and 5). Said shoulders of the latch and movableabutment are normally orusually in engage ment with one another, so thatwhen the latch is moved back by the act of closing the door, the latchwill in effect be retracted against the full or normal resistance of theelastic aircushion. In order to relieve the latch from such resistance,so that it can be easily retracted, the movable abutment O can be raisedso as to free it from positive engagement with the latch, it being seenthat the slot in the iatch is of sufficient width to admit of suchmovement on the part of movable abutment O, and that when the forwardportion of the latter is thus raised, its shoulder 0' will be freed fromshoulder a in the latch-slot, and thereby allow the latch to beretracted independently of the movable abutment O. During saidoperation, the portion of the movable abutment 0 within the latch-slotwill simply rest upon the forward inclined bottom wall a of said slot,so that while the abutment C remains passive, the latch will be movingback, and while thus operating will be relieved from the springresistance normally opposing its retraction. After thus retracting thelatch, and opening the door, the latch can be moved forward either manually'or by any desired arrangement of light spring arrangedindependently of the spring cushiori A. For example, a key comprising aspindle E having a ward e, can be used for unlocking the movableabutment 0 from the latch and for both retracting and projecting thelatch while it is thus relieved from the resistance of cushion A. Withsuch arrangement, the Ward 6 on the spindle can be arranged foroperation between shoulders a a on the latch, so that the latter can beoperated by the spindle similar to the operation of a latch by the wardof an ordinary key. The ward e of the spindle can also be employed forunlocking movable abutment C from the latch, and to such end, it can bearranged so that when the spindle is turned in one direction, it willcome under the forward inclined end portion of the movable abutment Oand thus suitably lift the same out of locking engagement with thelatch, and

then engage shoulder a on the latch so as to retract the latter.

Obviously a coiled spring could be applied to the spindle so as to causeit to normally project the latch, or a light spring could be applied tothe latch for such purpose, and since springs for normally projectinglatches are so well known and common devices it is not deemed necessaryto make special illustration of the same one illustration of a lightspring for normally projecting a vibratory latch being shown insucceeding figures. In order to insure positive engagement between themovable abutment O and latch when the latter is projected as in Figs. 1and 2, a spring F is secured within the casing Gand arranged to bearupon said movable abutment. By such arrangement the forward portion ofthe movable abutment G will be caused to drop and engage or rest inopposition to the stop or shoulder a of the latch when the latter hasbeen projected as in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 6 to 9, inclusive,'the construction shown involves theprinciples of operation of the construction illustrated by the precedingfigures, the principal difference between said two sets of figures beingin details. Thus, in Figs. 6 to 9, inclusive, the latch A isa swinginglatch and to such end is pivoted at a within the casing. The slot 0, ofthis swinging latch is curved and has a notch a at its rear end. Themovable abutment O has its rear end 0 arranged to normally act againstand compress the elastic air-cushion B, and to such end the forwardportion of said movable abutment is forked to embrace the latch andprovided with a cross-pin c which is normally within notch a at the rearend of slot a in the latch. By such arrangement the movable abutment Ocan be temporarily locked to the latch so that when the latch is forcedback by the act of closing the door, it will be opposed by the full ornormal resistance of a spring afforded by the elastic aircushion. Inorder to relieve the latch from the spring resistance normally opposingits retraction, the key spindle E has the ward 8 formed similar to theward of key spindle E in preceding figures and arranged to engage underand slightly raise the forward portion of movable abutment 0 when thespindle is turned in a direction to retract the latch and thereby liftpin 0 out of notch 6L7. Further movement of the key spindle in thesamedirection causes its ward to engage a stop a on the latch and therebyretract the latter independently of the movable abutment O, as in Fig.8.

From the foregoing it will be seen that during the use of the latch andelastic air-cushion as a check to prevent the slamming of a door or thelike, the latch in both arrangements is normally opposed by the fullelastic resistance, and that when for example the door is closed and itis desired to open the same, the latch'can be entirely relieved from theresistance of spring cushion B by unlocking or disengaging from thelatch, the movable abutment normally interposed between the latch andcushion as a temporary portion of the latch.

What I claim as my invention is.

1. A combined latch and check comprising a latch, a spring resistance, amovable abutment normally interposed between the latch and the springresistance whereby the automatic retraction of the latch shall force theabutment against the spring resistance and thereby cause the latter tooppose such retraction on the part of the latch, said abutment beingalso adapted and arranged for disengagement from the latch, and meanswhereby the said abutment may be disengaged from the latch and thelatter retracted independently of the movable abutment and withoutopposition on the part of the spring resistance, substantially as setforth.

2. A combined latch and check comprising a latch, an elasticair-cushion, a movable abutment constituting a power transmitting devicenormally interposed between the two and arranged for alternateconnection with and disconnection from the latch as a power transmittingmedium, and a key for temporarily disconnectingsaid device from thelatch, substantially as set forth.

3. A combined latch and check comprising a latch, an elasticair-cushion, a movable abutment constituting a power transmitting devicenormally interposed between the two and arranged for alternateconnection with and disconnection from the latch, and a key adapted andarranged for both disconnecting said abutment from the latch and forretracting the latter, when the abutment is freed therefrom, said'latchbeing provided with stops between which the ward e of the key isarranged, one of said stops being positioned to be engaged by the saidward when the key is operated to raise the abutment from engagement withthe latch; and the other stop being arranged to be engaged by said wardwhen the key is operated to allow the abutposed to itsretraction, astronger spring resistance normally opposing its retraction, and meansfor temporarily relieving the latch from the stronger spring resistance,substan- 5 tially as and for the purpose set forth.

RUFUS \VRIGHT.

Witnesses:

BETA M. WAGNER, CHAS. G. PAGE.

